GILBERT AND SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan Favourites (from The Gondoliers, Iolanthe, Ruddigore, The Mikado & The Yeomen of the Guard) The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company / James Walker / Sir Malcolm Sargent [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 7/Jul/1995 ] 'all the performances are as good as they get' ClassicsToday.com |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe (Complete Operetta recorded in 1972) D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with John Reed, John Ayldon, Lyndsie Holland / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royston Nash [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2018 ] "Judy Merri displays an admirably firm mezzo in the title role […] there is an extra spaciousness that enables orchestral detail to come through in all its brilliance […] D'Oyly Carte enthusiasts should be well satisfied with the new... |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Grand Duke (Complete), Henry VIII-Incidental Music, Overture di Ballo D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with John Reed, Meston Reid, Kenneth Sandford / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Royston Nash [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2003 ] "This represents, perhaps the ideal way to sample Sullivan's least known major score. The recorded performance has both polish and vigour. The recording is characteristically brilliant." *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Grand Duke (Complete) / Henry VIII-Incidental Music / Overture di Ballo D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with John Reed, Meston Reid, Kenneth Sandford / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royston Nash [ Decca Records / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Apr/1993 ] "This represents, perhaps the ideal way to sample Sullivan's least known major score. The recorded performance has both polish and vigour. The recording is characteristically brilliant." *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: H.M.S. Pinafore (Complete Opera recorded in 1971) D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, with John Reed, Pauline Wales, Thomas Lawlor, Christine Palmer, Ralph Mason / James Walker (cond) [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Jun/2018 ] "There is a real sense of staging and movement which is all to the good. The dialogue is well handled and is very much a plus factor.' Fanfare, November/December 1983 |
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: The Sorcerer (Complete) coupled with Sullivan's The Zoo D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with Valerie Masterson, Donald Adams, John Reed / Royal Philharmonic Orch. / Godfrey / Nash [ Decca Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2003 ] *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide. |
GILBERT and SULLIVAN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance (Complete Operetta) D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with Valerie Masterson; Owen Brannigan; John Reed / Royal Philharmonic Orch. / Isadore Godfrey [ Decca Records / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Apr/2003 ] "The recording is superbly spacious and clear throughout, with a fine sense of atmosphere. The CD transfer is remarkable in its added presence." (Penguin Guide) |
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare: King Lear (recorded live Strafford-Upon-Avon, 2016) Royal Shakespeare Company / Antony Sher, Natalie Simpson, Nia Gwynne, Kelly Williams / Robin Lough (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 7/Aug/2017 ] King Lear has ruled for many years. As age begins to overtake him, he decides to divide his kingdom amongst his children, living out his days without the burden of power. |
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
The Gondoliers (complete operetta recorded in 1977) John Reed, Geoffrey Shovelton, Kenneth Sanford, Barbara Lilley / D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Royal Philharmonic, Royston Nash [ Australian Decca SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] "the appealing gondoliers of Meston Reid and Michael Rayner, John Reed's typically reliable Duke and Kenneth Sandford's pillar of strength Don Alhambra" (Gramophone) |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Offenbach: Orpheus In The Underworld (operetta in English) Mary Hegarty, David Fieldsend, Jill Pert, Richard Suart, Rosemarie Arthars, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, John Owen Edwards [ Sony music / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Jan/1994 ] ".. the whole production has a real lived-in feel and, in Mary Hegarty's flighty Eurydice, a nymphet - sorry, nymph - virtually to die for. " BBC Music |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Nine German Arias / Music for the Royal Fireworks Nuria Rial (soprano), Austrian Baroque Company, Michael Oman (recorder & director) [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / Sony / CD - released 4/Jan/2010 ] Soprano Nuria Rial performs Georg Friedrich Handel's stunningly beautiful but rarely recorded German Arias, accompanied by the Austrian Baroque Company. Handel's Deutsche Arien of 1724-7 stands relatively alone in the context of his Italian operas... |
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado / Trial By Jury Peter Pratt, Donald Adams, Thomas Round, Jean Hindmarsh, Kenneth Sandford, Julia Goss / D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Isadore Godfrey, Royston Nash [ Australian Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 12/Dec/2015 ] I am pretty safe in saying that this recording is probably one of the best G & S recordings..ever! A cast to die for! Listen to Thomas Round's most beautiful rendering of "Wand'ring minstrel" and the horrific crazy laugh of Donald Adams as the Mikado |
SHAKESPEARE
Henry V (recorded live at Stratford-Upon-Avon in 2015) BLU-RAY Royal Shakespeare Company / Alex Hassell, Jane Lapotaire, Sarah Parks, Leigh Quinn, Joshua Richards [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 15/May/2016 ] Henry IV is dead and Hal is King. With England in a state of unrest, he must leave his rebellious youth behind, striving to gain the respect of his nobility and people. |
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Richard II (recorded live in 2013) Royal Shakespeare Company / David Tennant (Richard), Oliver Ford Davies (Duke of York), Michael Pennington, Nigel Lindsay [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 1/Mar/2013 ] Richard is King. A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100... |
SHAKESPEARE
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (recorded live in 2014) Royal Shakespeare Company / Mark Arends, Michael Marcus, Jonny Glynn, Pearl Chanda, Leigh Quinn / Simon Godwin (director) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/May/2015 ] Valentine and Proteus are best friends until they fall in love with the same girl. Having travelled to Milan in search of adventure, they both fall for the Duke's daughter Silvia. But Proteus is already sworn to his sweetheart Julia at home in... |
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (recorded live at Stratford-Upon-Avon in 2014) BLU-RAY Royal Shakespeare Company / Mark Arends, Michael Marcus, Jonny Glynn, Pearl Chanda, Sarah MacRae [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 20/May/2015 ] Valentine and Proteus are best friends until they fall in love with the same girl. Having travelled to Milan in search of adventure, they both fall for the Duke's daughter Silvia. But Proteus is already sworn to his sweetheart Julia at home in... |
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet (recorded live in 2016) Royal Shakespeare Company / Paapa Essiedu (Hamlet), Natalie Simpson (Ophelia), Cyril Nri (Polonius), Clarence Smith (Claudius), Tanya Moodie, Hiran Ab [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 18/Nov/2016 ] Press Reviews "It is an utterly engaging performance by Paapa Essiedu." (The Times ★★★★) "... the percussive music of Sola Akingbola makes a vital contribution to a production that makes you feel, even if you are seeing Hamlet for the 50th... |
SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet (recorded live in 2016) BLU-RAY Royal Shakespeare Company / Paapa Essiedu (Hamlet), Natalie Simpson (Ophelia), Cyril Nri (Polonius), Clarence Smith (Claudius), Tanya Moodie, Hiran Ab [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 18/Nov/2016 ] ... an arresting, accessible and entertaining production, with a shooting star of a central performance." (The Stage ★★★★) |
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Love's Labour's Lost & Love's Labour's Won [Much Ado About Nothing] (recorded live at Stratford-Upon-Avon in March 2015) BLU-RAY Royal Shakespeare Company / Sam Alexander, Peter Basham, William Belchambers, Edward Bennett, David Horovitch, Chris Nayak [ Opus Arte Blu-ray / 2 Blu-ray Box Set - released 25/Nov/2015 ] Containing Shakespeare's Love's Labours Lost and Love's Labours Won, this double set features outstanding Royal Shakespeare Company productions available for the very first time. Running time: 4 hours 48 minutes (plus extras) Subtitles:... |
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance / Cox & Box Peter Pratt, Donald Adams, Thomas Round, Jean Hindmarsh, Kenneth Sandford / D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Isadore Godfrey, Royston Nash [ Australian Decca Eloquence / 2 CD - released 25/Aug/2015 ] "A classic recording and one of the very first Gilbert and Sullivan recordings ever made in stereo. The solo singing is all first-class with Thomas Round and Jean Hindmarsh (as Frederic and Mabel) being at their very best." Mel@Marbecks |